We investigate the loading of a two-color vapor-cell magneto-optical trap for sodium atoms as a function of several operational parameters of the trap. We use two laser frequencies acting in different spatial regions to obtain either enhancement or inhibition of the capture mechanism. We demonstrate that the best enhancement is achieved when the trap operates on a combination of atomic transitions, known as type I tuning, by using a second laser beam to capture atoms through a different combination of transitions (type II tuning).
We report studies of photon-stimulated desorption, also known as light-induced atomic desorption, of sodium atoms from a vacuum-cell glass surface used for loading a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Fluorescence detection was used to record the trapped atom number and the desorption rate. We observed a steep wavelength dependence of the desorption process above
2.6eV photon energy, a result significant for estimations of sodium vapor density in the lunar atmosphere. Our data fit well to a simple model for the loading of the MOT dependent only on the sodium desorption rate and residual gas density. Up to $3.7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ Na atoms were confined under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions, creating promising loading conditions for a vapor-cell-based atomic Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium.